sfoggi posted on July 19, 2011 13:27
WINTER PARK, Fla. (July 19, 2011) - The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (18-8) defeated the Sanford River Rats (9-18) 8-4 at home in front of a large crowd of kids on Camp Day.
It was a bullpen day for the Diamond Dawgs pitching staff, as five different pitchers entered the game. Kameron Kopcyznski (Connors State College) picked up his second win of the season in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings, giving up one hit and allowing just one run.
River Rats starter Brandon Cowan (Lincoln Memorial) was dealt his third loss of the season, giving up five runs on four hits and three walks in four innings of work.
The Diamond Dawgs struck first, in the bottom of the second inning, when B.J. Zimmerman (University of Tampa) hit a home run to right field. Zimmerman went 2-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and three RBIs, while also moving into a tie for the league lead in home runs with three.
However, Sanford immediately answered the Zimmerman blast in the top of the third inning. The Rats had the bases loaded with no outs, and scored their first run of the game on an error by the first baseman. They then scored a run on a fielder’s choice, followed by a wild pitch.
Winter Park chipped away at Sanford’s lead with a run in the bottom of the frame. The score was then tied at 3-all in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out single by Alex Cruz (Georgia Tech), which brought home Dustin DeMuth (Indiana University).
In the fifth inning, the Dawgs loaded the bases to begin the inning with no outs for Austin Chubb (Florida Southern). Chubb gave Winter Park a 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly to right field. The Dawgs scored one more run on a fielder’s choice to obtain a two-run lead.
Sanford responded in the following inning once again. Ryan Woodrey (Nova Southeastern) started things off for the Rats with a single, and eventually came around to score on a bases loaded walk to cut the Diamond Dawgs lead to one.
Nevertheless, Winter Park would get three insurance runs to make the score 8-4, and put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The River Rats did not score a run in the eighth and ninth innings, as they failed to answer the Dawgs as they had earlier in the game.
Winter Park will be on the road Wednesday, July 20 against the DeLand Suns. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.
Mitchell Adams (UCF)